How to Request a Tow Hearing in Texas

This is the order for asking a Texas justice court to hold a hearing after a vehicle was removed without consent and placed in a vehicle storage facility.

This is general information, not legal advice. It does not say what the court will decide, and it does not say who is responsible for a particular tow. The facts below are from Texas Occupations Code sections 2308.453 through 2308.458. Read them on the Texas Legislature site: statutes.capitol.texas.gov, Chapter 2308. For an apartment tow, also read the lease clause and the posted signs. Those, with Chapter 2308, are what the hearing is about. A separate page covers apartment towed my car without notice.

1. Count the request deadline

Section 2308.456(a) calls for a written request before the 14th day after the date the vehicle was removed and placed in the storage facility, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The clock runs from removal and storage, not from the tow call. The same section is on statutes.capitol.texas.gov.

The 14-day limit does not apply if the notice required by §2308.454 was not given (§2308.456(c)). Under (c-1), the 14 days don't start until the towing company or storage facility gives the owner the information listed in (b)(2)-(6).

Under §2308.456(d), missing the deadline waives the right to a hearing. Section 2308.454 is the notice the towing company or storage facility gives, including the written notice due at the time of payment if you pay before a hearing. Section 2308.455 lists what that notice must contain, including a statement of the request deadline, any filing fee, and the justice courts in the county.

2. File in a justice court in the county the vehicle was towed from

Section 2308.453 says a hearing under this chapter shall be in any justice court in the county from which the motor vehicle was towed. For a booted vehicle, it is any justice court in the county where the parking facility is located. Section 2308.455(1)(D) requires the notice to state that same choice of court.

Section 2308.455(5) requires the notice to list the name, address, and telephone number of each justice court in that county, or the address of an internet site maintained by the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System that lists them. That directory is the Texas Office of Court Administration court directory. Call the court clerk and ask how that court accepts a written request.

3. Ask that court what filing fee it charges

Chapter 2308 does not set a filing fee amount; ask that justice court about any filing fee (the §2308.455 notice must list it).

4. What the written request must contain

Section 2308.456(b) says the written request must contain:

• • Your name, address, and telephone number, as the owner or operator of the vehicle.
• • The location from which the vehicle was removed, or where it was booted.
• • The date the vehicle was removed or booted.
• • The name, address, and telephone number of the person or law enforcement agency that authorized the removal or booting.
• • The name, address, and telephone number of the vehicle storage facility where the vehicle was placed.
• • The name, address, and telephone number of the towing company that removed the vehicle, or the booting company that installed a boot.
• • A copy of any receipt or notification you received from the towing company, the booting company, or the storage facility.
• • If the vehicle was removed from or booted in a parking facility: one or more photographs that show the location and the text of any sign posted there that restricts parking, or a statement that the facility did not have a posted sign restricting parking.

5. Documents to gather

Bring the papers the request has to include, plus the records that show the lease clause and the signs:

• • The lease or parking rules, if the vehicle was towed from an apartment or another property with a written parking clause.
• • Photographs of each posted sign, showing where the sign stands and the words on it, or a short written statement that no restricting sign was posted.
• • The tow ticket, the itemized invoice, and the payment receipt.
• • The written notice of rights given at payment, which section 2308.454 requires when you pay before a hearing, and any other notice from the towing company or storage facility.
• • The name, address, and phone number of the person or law enforcement agency that authorized the removal. Section 2308.456(b)(4) requires that on the request. Section 2308.455(4) requires the notice under section 2308.454 to include the name, street address, and telephone number of the person, parking facility owner, or law enforcement agency that authorized the removal.
• • A copy of Chapter 2308, or a link to it, so the lease, the signs, and the statute can be read side by side.

6. Deliver the written request to that court

Section 2308.456 says to deliver the written request to the court. It does not describe a single statewide form or a single delivery method. Ask the clerk of the justice court you chose how that court accepts the request, and deliver it in that way before the deadline in section 2308.456(a), unless subsection (c) or (c-1) changes the timing. Keep a copy of what you delivered and a note of the date the court received it.

What the statute says the hearing covers

Section 2308.458(a) says the hearing shall be held before the 21st calendar day after the date the court receives the request. The court notifies the person who requested the hearing, the parking facility owner or law enforcement agency that authorized the removal, the towing company, and the storage facility of the date, time, and place.

Section 2308.452 describes the hearing as one on whether probable cause existed for the removal and placement, or for the booting. Section 2308.458(c) lists the issues for a towed vehicle: whether probable cause existed for the removal and placement, and whether a towing charge imposed or collected was greater than the amount authorized by the political subdivision under section 2308.201 or 2308.202, under section 2308.203, or under section 2308.0575. Subsection (b-1) says the burden of proof is on the person who requested the hearing. Subsection (d) says the court shall make written findings of fact and a conclusion of law.

Those are the questions the statute assigns to the court. This page does not answer them.